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Mega-Pop Career Fully Established, Diane Warren Is Finally Putting Her Name In Front

Diane Warren released her debut album, <em>The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1</em>, on Aug. 27.
Stefanie Keenan
/
Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter
Diane Warren released her debut album, The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1, on Aug. 27.

What do "Un-break My Heart" by Toni Braxton, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith and "I Was Here" by Beyoncé all have in common? The answer is they were all written by one woman — Diane Warren. Over the years, she has penned some of the greatest hits, working with artists from Tina Turner to Elton John to Britney Spears.

In an interview with NPR's Ari Shaprio, Warren says she had always been most comfortable away from the stage, behind the scenes. But even so, Friday marks a surprising first for her: She has released her debut studio album, The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1. Warren doesn't actually sing lead vocals on this album though; she compares her role to someone like DJ Khaled, who coordinates records featuring various artists.

"It's like I'm DJ Diane," she said. The record has 15 tracks, written by Warren and performed by familiar names ranging from Celine Dion to Ty Dolla $ign. "This is me kind of doing my version of that, curating an album with all kinds of different artists. It's kind of a microcosm of my career, 'cause I've always been in a lot of different genres of music. I [don't] write just one kind of song for one kind of artist..."

Hear our conversation in the audio player above – and stream Diane Warren's latest album below.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.
Jonaki Mehta is a producer for All Things Considered. Before ATC, she worked at Neon Hum Media where she produced a documentary series and talk show. Prior to that, Mehta was a producer at Member station KPCC and director/associate producer at Marketplace Morning Report, where she helped shape the morning's business news.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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